Job Search Strategy: better communication coming

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

It is a wonderful thing when you get vindication for an opinion that seems to be the minority opinion. The topic of last week’s blog post was the contradiction that exists in our communications, where we have numerous electronic communication means available but little real communication among people. The same week a widely read daily publication sponsored a celebration, a “tweetup” for people who use the social media to meet in person!

At the same time, I read about a writer who had set out to investigate whether sitting at Starbucks actually fosters “community,” which would be a reasonable assumption given all the people who frequent the coffee shops on a regular basis and have the opportunity to meet each other and form such a community. He found that no such communities had formed.

It is hard to know what to make of these stories. Twitter, one of the most-used social networking sites, actually reverts to face-to-face contact. Starbucks creates an environment that should be a prime community-building “site” but apparently fails to fill that role.

Ultimately, what I get out of this is that we have to be ever vigilant about our humanity and that includes talking to each other, either face-to-face or through electronic media which allows for personal communication.

It also includes prospective employers treating interviewees with simple respect, like letting them know where they stand in a timely manner. I cannot come up with a single reason why they can’t do that, considering the numerous, hassle-free communications available to all of us.

I understand employers are busy and that they receive hundreds of resumes for each opening, and I wouldn’t expect them to respond to every resume submission. In fact, job applicants should take the time to follow up on their own resume submissions. (I have not had much success doing that, precisely because employers are so overwhelmed with applications nowadays.)

But I do recall that once, when I was hiring more than 60 people for a corporate relocation, an applicant called me to follow up on her resume submission. I actually found her resume in the piles on my desk, and she got an interview. Had she not called, her resume might have been lost in the shuffle.

But I digress. My point is that if someone shows up for an interview, with all the time and preparation that takes, not to mention the anxiety and expectations, they at least deserve a response, no?